Clinical significance and risk factors of redundant nerve root in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis / 中国骨伤

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the clinical significance and screen the risk factors of redundant nerve roots(RNRs) in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis.@*METHODS@#The clinical data of 196 patients with lumbar spinal stenosis in the department of Spinal Surgery, Yijishan Hospital, Wannan Medical College from April 1, 2015 to November 30, 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were divided into RNRs positive group and RNRs negative group according to the presence of RNRs. The differences in general clinical data, imaging parameters, visual analogue scale(VAS), Oswestry disability index(ODI), and other indicators between the two groups were compared. The risk factors which are highly correlated with RNRs were screened by binary Logistic regression analysis.@*RESULTS@#There were 59 cases in the RNRs positive group, with an occurrence rate of 29.95% (59/137), and 137 cases in the RNRs negative group. The incidence rate of RNRs in 196 patients with lumbar spinal stenosis was 30.10% (59/196). VAS and ODI scores of patients in the two groups were statistically significant (P<0.05), and clinical symptoms of patients in the RNRs positive group were more severe than those in the RNRs negative group. There were significant differences in age, number of stenosis segments, average area of lumbar dural sac, area of the narrowest segment and the narrowest segment(P<0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that the number of stenosis segments, the average median sagittal diameter of spinal canal, and the average area of dural sac in lumbar intervertebral space were correlated with the generation of RNRs (P<0.05). The regression coefficient of the number of stenosis segments was -1.115, the regression coefficient of the median sagittal diameter of the spinal canal was -1.707, and the regression coefficient of the mean dural sac area of the lumbar intervertebral space was 7.556.@*CONCLUSION@#The clinical symptoms of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis accompanied by RNRs are more severe than those without them. The number of narrow segments, median sagittal diameter of the spinal canal, and the area of the lumbar intervertebral dural sac are the high-risk factors for RNRs, with the area of the lumbar intervertebral dural sac has the highest correlation.

lncRNA XIST promotes gastric cancer progression via regulating miR-337-3p/ HOXC8 axis / 中国肿瘤生物治疗杂志

@# Objective: To investigate the mechanism of lncRNA XIST (XIST) on modulating gastric cancer progression via regulating miR-337-3p/HOXC8 axis. Methods: A total of 58 cases of gastric cancer tissues and corresponding para-cancerous tissues resected from March 2013 to January 2018 in Department of General Surgery, Kailuan General Hospital of Tangshan City were collected for this study; in addition, human gastric cancer cell lines (AGS, MGC803, HGC27) and human gastric mucosal GES-1 cells were also collected. qPCR was used to detect the expressions of XIST and miR-337-3p in above mentioned gastric tissues and cell lines. XIST-knockdown vectors, miR-337-3p mimics, miR-337-3p inhibitor and HOXC8-overexpression vectors were transfected into AGS cells. The proliferation and invasion of AGS cells were detected by CCK-8 and Transwell experiments respectively, and the expression levels of HOXC8, E-cadherin, N-cadherin and vimentin were detected by WB. The targeting relationships between XIST, miR337-3p and HOXC8 were verified by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. Results: XIST was up-regulated in gastric cancer tissues and cell lines (all P<0.01). XIST knockdown significantly inhibited proliferation, invasion and EMT of AGS cells (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Moreover, XIST directly interacted with miR-337-3p and down-regulated its expression, while HOXC8 was the target gene of miR-3373p. Furthermore, XIST knockdown suppressed proliferation, invasion and EMT ofAGS cells through up-regulating the inhibitory effect of miR-337-3p on HOXC8 (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusion: XIST knockdown can suppress the proliferation, invasion and EMT of AGS cells, which may be related with down-regulation of HOXC8 by targeting miR-337-3p.

Effect of Coflex interspinous stabilization and vertebral arch pedicle screw implantation on the stability of three-dimensional motions of the lumbar spine / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effect of Coflex interspinous stabilization and vertebral arch pedicle screw implant on the stability and motion of the lumbar spine.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The range of motion (ROM) of 6 fresh adult human cadaver lumbar spine specimens (L(1) approximately S(1)) was biomechanically tested in forward flexion/extension stretch, left/right lateral bending and left/right axial rotation. The ROM and neutral zone (NZ) of the segments L(2/3), L(3/4), and L(4/5) were measured and compared in 3 conditions, namely intact condition (a), rigid fixation of the segment L(4/5) with vertebral arch pedicle screw (b), and condition b plus L(3/4) stabilization with Coflex device (c).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The ROM of segment L(4/5) was significantly smaller in conditions b and c than in condition a in all the directions (P<0.05). The ROM of segment L(3/4) was significantly smaller in conditions a and c than in condition b in extension stretch (P<0.01), smaller in condition a than in conditions b and c in left/right lateral bending (P<0.01), and decreased significantly in the order of a<c<b in forward flexion stretch and left/right axial rotation (P<0.05). The ROM of segment L(2/3) was significantly smaller in conditions a and b than in condition c in extension stretch (P<0.01), but showed no significant differences between the 3 conditions in the other directions (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The ROM of the segment superior to the lumbar spine with rigid fixation increases in all the directions, but can be reduced with Coflex device implanted in the superior segment, which results in only increased ROM of the segment superior to Coflex device in extension stretch.</p>

Determination of the concentrations of interleukin-18 and other cytokines in the synovial fluid in patients with osteoarthritis / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To determine the concentrations of interleukin-18 (IL-18), IL-6, IL-8, and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in the synovial fluid in patients with osteoarthritis (OA), and explore the role of IL-18 in the pathogenesis of OA.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The synovial fluid was collected from 30 patients with knee OA, and the concentrations of IL-18 and the other cytokines were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A linear regression was performed between IL-18 and the other cytokines.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The average IL-18 and PGE2 concentrations were 220-/+304 pg/ml and 89-/+104 pg/ml in the synovial fluid, respectively, and the two cytokines showed a positive correlation in the synovial fluid (r=0.628, P=0.001). The IL-18 concentration was also correlated to the concentrations of IL-6 (1200-/+1587 pg/ml, n=22; r=0.590, P=0.008) and IL-8 (5190-/+6024 pg/ml, n=9; r=0.776, P=0.014).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>IL-18 can promote PGE2 production, which causes cartilage degradation in OA, thus therapies targeting this cytokine may prove an effective approach to early OA treatment.</p>